Show & Tell: Corey Friedlander of City Of Souls
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Show & Tell: Corey Friedlander of City Of Souls

What piece of equipment do you have to show us today?

This is my drum kit that Tama custom made for me few years back. I call it the Stealth Kit inspired by the Batmobile from The Dark Knight Rises. It’s a Tama Bubinga Starclassic and all my cymbals are Paiste.

 

How did you come across this particular item?

At the time, I was really getting into Tama and I had an old band member from In Dread Response working at Music Works. He sent Tama my personal press kit and they agreed to build me my dream kit and take me on as an endorsee.

 

What is it that you like about it so much?

Not only is it made of pure bubinga; the African swamp wood, but it is known for its characteristics for being tight with massive low end, it sounds like the drums have already been EQ’d when hit under scrutiny and just sings through the PA and in the studio. The sizes of the toms are a little bit shallower than standard and the bass drums are extra deep in length which has created my signature sound for the last eight years. I also love the black and blue colour combo which is also kind of Sci-fi like something out of Star Wars when the lights hit it.

 

 

 

How do you use it and how has it shaped the way you write music?

With the cymbal setup that I have, each Paiste cymbal gives me a very different dynamic and textural array of soundscapes. City Of Soul’s guitarists, Steve, Trajan, Marcus and bassist Dan, tune extra low, so I can complement that with the super low tuning of my toms giving the section a real tribal feel (similar to the likes of a Tool, Sepultura or Meshuggah vibe). I also try to keep things as symmetrical as I can with the setup since I do a lot of open hand playing.

 

Tell us a little about what you have coming up?

City Of Souls next show is in Auckland as direct support for Sevendust in April and from there we plan on touring New Zealand and head back over to Australia in July.  Later in the year we will release our debut album, produced by Forrester Savell, and a couple more songs and videos so keep an eye and ear out.

 

Catch City Of Souls on tour with Circles and Ebonivory in July.